Nina Simone

Bookies are offering enthusiastic odds for London Grammar and nearly everyone wants David Bowie's The Next Day to feature in the mix, but who is really going to be on the 2013 Mercury Prize shortlist? Our critic, David Smyth, offers his predictions

POPPJ Harvey & John ParishA Woman a Man Walked By (Island)** I've got a lot of time for PJ Harvey, but not this record — a collaboration with her producer John Parish. The opening Black Hearted Love is a riff-driven rocker with all the ominous portent of a storm warning, but after that, Polly gives up on the simple art of singing. Instead, she indulges in mewling, whining, little-girl-lost vocal exercises which, I suppose, are the only possible response to a set of songs, composed by Parish, all with one thing in common: a wilful disregard for a proper tune. Harvey says the pair won't be making another record for a long time. Absolutely fine by me.PETE CLARK

This is the first full-length biography published in the UK of the iconic musician and civil rights activist. A recording artist for forty years, the High Priestess of Soul remains an inspirational figure world wide.

Intensity is Barb Jungr’s middle name. She has enough personality to fill a large concert hall. In an intimate setting like this, it’s almost overpowering. Egged on by a full house of fans, Barb was at her most bounteous on Saturday, crowning her songs with head-tossing climaxes and interspersing them with lengthy personal glimpses of a showbiz life.

It's been too long since Brazil's king and queen of jazz samba paid their annual state visit to Ronnie's. They're back at last with a band that still combines power and grace like some Copacabanan Rolls-Royce.